Bottleholder



June 20, 1950 J. A. MEREDITH 2,511,364

' BOTTLEHOLDER Filed June 27, 1946 FIGURE I FIGURE 3 INVENTOR.

JOHN A. MEREDITH ATTORNEY Patented June 20, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE John A. Meredith, Lakewood, 0010. Application June 27, 1946, Serial No. 679,781

This invention relates to holders for bottles and the like, and more particularly to a holder for an infants feeding bottle or the like.

In supplying liquids such as milk, water, food formulae, and the like, as to infants who are unable to hold a bottle, it is often a tedious and time consuming operation for an adult to hold the bottle for the infant. Sometimes the bottle is propped upon a pillow or other support, but the position of the bottle is not any too secure and the bottle does not respond in the proper manner to the activities of the infant in extracing the liquid therefrom.

Among the objects of this invention are to provide a holder for an infants bottle or the like which will maintain the bottle in a desired position during use by the infant; to provide such a holder which will permit a sufilcient degree of movement so that the normal actions of the infant in extracting the fluid therefrom will not cause the bottle to fall out of the holder or be moved from the desired position; to provide such a holder wherein a limited degree of freedom in a lateral direction and a considerable degree of freedom in a longitudinal direction is provided; to provide such a holder in which the position of the bottl is maintained by the effect of gravity, yet the foregoing degrees of freedom are provided; to provide such a holder which is readily placed on a crib, basket, bassinet, carriage, cradle or other means for reception of the infant; and to provide such a holder which will be relatively simple in construction, light in weight and easy to manufacture. Other objects and the novel features of this invention will become apparent from the description which follows.

A holder for an infants bottle or the like, constructed in accordance with this invention, may comprise means for retaining the bottle in a predetermined position and a support for the retaining means adapted to be placed on the edges of a basket or the like. The retaining means preferably includes a front ring and a larger rear ring, while the support may include a single wire extending laterally from each side of the retaining means, and a framework including spaced legs and hooks for engaging the basket edges. The bottle holder may be constructed of wire bent to the desired configuration, or sections of wire bent to shape and the sections welded or attached together in any other suitable manner. As will be evident, since the holder is preferably made of wire, it may be bent to fit any particular basket or the like within rather wide limits. A holder for an infants bottle, which includes the fore- 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-102) going and also additional features, is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a bottle holder constructed in accordance with this invention, shown in use and placed on an infants basket or the like;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the bottle holder of Fig. l; and

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the bottle holder.

As in Fig. l, a bottle holder H constructed in accordance with this invention may be placed on a basket or bassinet B in which lies an infant to whom milk, water or the like is to be administered. The holder H comprises a pair of rings l0 and l I joined by converging longitudinal wires 12. Front ring 10 is sufficiently small to permit a nipple l3 and a portion of a bottle M to pass therethrough, yet is adapted to prevent the bottle from falling or sliding out of the holder. The rear ring II is larger, and permits a sufficient lateral freedom of movement of the bottle to accommodate normal side-to-side shifting of the infant during the feeding operation. The bottle 14 is also movable relatively freely longitudinally within rings Ill and l I, so that it permits forward and backward movements of the head of the infant during feeding, but the rings ill and II are preferably so disposed that the bottle slants downwardly at a sufiicient angle that it tends to slide into a forward position until restrained by front ring [0. Thus, should the infant push the bottle 14 back in the holder, it will slide forwardly again into proper position, so that even though the infant may lose the nipple i3, it can readily recover the same since the bottle tends to return always to its forward position.

For supporting the rings I0 and [I in the desired position, suitable means such as lateral wires l5, extending from each side of the rear ring II and attached thereto at longitudinal wires 12, may be utilized. Or, lateral wires 15 may be formed as extensions or continuations of longitudinal wires l2; preferably being joined to rings .IB- and H at suitable points, as by welds it. Also, welds l6 may join the abutting ends of circular pieces forming the rings ID and II together. i

The central structure, including rings It] and I l and longitudinal wires I 2, may be twisted to retain .the bottle at any desired angle, but the lateral .wires 15 are preferably sufiiciently stiff so that having an upper bar I8 to the center of which wire l5 may be attached, as by a weld l9. Upper bars I8 may be formed integrally with side bars 20, and a hook 2| may be attached to each side bar 20, as by welds 22. The ends of hooks 2| may be formed integrally with a lower bar 23, one of which joins each pair of hooks. Hooks 2| are adapted to rest upon the edges ll of the basket B, as in Fig. 1, with lower bars 23 outside edges I7 and the lower ends of side bars 20 inside the same. It will be understood, of course, that the ends of side bars 20 may be joined by a lower bar, if desired, and also that lower bars 23 joining hooks 2| may be omitted, if desired.

As will be evident, relatively wide latitude is possible in the construction and manufacture of the bottle holder of this invention. For instance, the entire holder maybe made of a single piece of wire and only two welds used in attaching the ends to other portions of the wire, such welds being made at any desired point, such as the junction between lateral wires I5 and up- ,per bars I8. Thus, beginning at one such point and proceeding outwardly along one upper bar, it can be seen that a single piece of wire may be bent to form one-half of an upper bar l8, then bent to form one side bar 20, the lower half of which may be formed by a double wire twisted together, and then bent to form one hook 2|, a lower bar 23, and the opposite hook 21. The lower half of the opposite side bar 2|! may be formed in thesame manner as before, and then the remainder of the upper bar 18 produced. At the junction between upper bar l8 and lateral wire [5, a weld or other suitable attachment to the starting end may be made. This leaves the lateral wire l5 extending toward the center, and the wire may be bent inany one of several different ways to form the central structure. Thus, the wire may be bent to form one longitudinal wire [2, and then front ring l formed by a one and a half circle, the upper half, for instance, of ring i0 being made double and the wire also looped around the ring previously made. The Wire is then bent to form the opposite longitudinal wire l2. formed, and the end of the wire bent laterally to form the opposite lateral wire IS. The oppositesupport may be formed in the'same manner as thefirst.

However, the preferredconstruction isby welding,-as the rings |0and| I may be bent to shape; the wires l2'and I formed as a single piece and bent to shape; the upper bars l8 and side bars 20 bent to shape as a. unit; and the hooks 2| and lower bars 23 formed as units. Such units may then all be placed-in a jig and then attached together, as by spot or resistance welding or any-other suitable form of welding or brazing. While the welds are preferably placed at the places described, it will be-understoocl that other weld or attachment positions may be found suitable. i I

The material of which-the holder ismade may vary considerably. Thus, the wires may be iron,

copper, stainless steel, aluminum ormagnesium The rear ring may'then be numerous advantages.

.date various conditions.

alloy castings, for instance. The wire of which the holder is constructed is preferably sufliciently stiff to hold the bottle without depreciable sag, yet able to be bent to raise or lower the position of the bottle in accordance with the height of the edges of the basket, and the size and position of the infant.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that the bottle holder of this invention has many and The hooks 2| are wide enough so that the holder may be readily moved to any desired position along the edges of the basket B, but the hooks 2| are spaced far enough apart at each side so as to insure stability and prevent the holder from being tipped over by any unusual movement by the infant in the basket. The front and rear rings of different diameters permit a bottle to be readily inserted and to be removed from a holder, yet maintain the bottle sufliciently accurately so that it remains in substantially the desired position at all times. The

position of the bottle may be adjusted readily in the manner indicated previously, to accommo- 7 Furthermore, the construction is such that the side supports can readily be bent outwardly or inwardly in order to accommodate different widths of the basket, and also can be twisted so that the holder can be placed conveniently ,on a basket or the like, the edges or the sides of which are not circular.

It will 'be evident that various changes may be made in both the material and the manner of constructing the holder of this invention, and that other embodiments of this invention may exist, all without departing from the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

A holder f 'or an iniants bottle or the like, comprising a'front ring, a larger rear ring, a wire at each side thereof connecting said rings and extending normally in substantially a horizontal plane laterally from each side of said rear ring,

a support for said wires including a framework at each side having a top bar and side bars formed integrally and having spaced legs and hooks for engaging the edges of a basket or the like, welds joining each said wire with said rings and with said framework at approximately the center of said top bar thereof, said rings being relatively larger than the corresponding portions of the bottle which they support whereby to permit tilting, rotating and lengthwise movement in a limited range of the bottle when in use, said hooks extending laterally outward and then downward from said side bars, each said frame- :work also including a, lower bar formed integrally with and joining-the lower ends of each pair of-hooks, and a weld joining each hook to a side bar.

JOHN A. MEREDITH.

' REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,110,712 f Phelps Sept. 15, 1914 1,863,163, Malti ,et al. June 14, 1932 1,900,691 Carlson Mar. 7, 1933 2,084,243 Charles June 15, 1937 

